Diagnostic Use of Vertebral Heart Score for Dilated Cardiomyopathy in Dogs
Keywords:
Diagnostic tool, Dilated cardiomyopathy, Dogs, Vertebral heart scoreAbstract
The present study was aimed to use vertebral heart score for confirmatory diagnosis of suspected dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs (n=18) among 6366 dogs presented at College Clinic, Navsari, Gujarat, over a period of two years. The most common symptoms in dogs suspected of cardiac diseases (n = 56) were exercise intolerance, dyspnoea, weakness, coughing, inappetence, weight loss, abdominal enlargement, vomiting, and syncope. Suspected cases of cardiac abnormalities were screened for confirmatory diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy, which revealed 18 patients with DCM. The vertebral heart size was measured as the sum of the long-axis and short-axis at its greatest diameter and then compared with the vertebra bones starting at T4. The vertebral heart score in dilated cardiomyopathy-affected dogs was found significantly (p<0.01) higher than healthy dogs (12.27±0.25v Vs. 9.17±0.12v). Vertebral heart score measurement on thoracic radiography in the absence of advanced diagnostic types of equipment can be helpful to rule out cardiac enlargement in dogs and initiation of treatment in field conditions.
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